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The sea remained calm last night as we cruised away from Tobermory and passed the Treshnish Islands, Staffa and Iona on our way to Greenock our final port of call where we docked very early this morning. Part of the fun of cruising for me is to watch the entering and leaving of ports and so I was up early this morning to watch the quiet passage into the Clyde. This shot is of the containers of luggage being carefully winched from the ship onto the dock to await collection by the disembarking passengers. I rather liked the way the crane and its load were reflected in the netted and now peaceful swimming pool.

I was away for just three nights but feel so relaxed it could have been a week's holiday. I went at relatively short notice, on a whim and on my own and after the initial scary, sinking feeling of being very alone in a crowd and wondering if I had made a big mistake I soon began to meet folk and ended up by having a great time, helped enormously by the fantastic weather and scenery. There are more cruise ships, especially the smaller ones, now using the northern ports and it really does make a big difference when you are not faced with a huge journey before you even arrive at the docks. I had driven to Greenock on Thursday where I had parked my car and then joined a courtesy coach to meet the ship at Liverpool, so on the return journey my car was just a very short walk from where the ship docked this morning. Easy!